The Culling of the Blajini
World Building de Búrca - 1800712 The Culling of the Blajini - A Re-Enchancment Account Location: Banks of Lake Tarnița. The following transcript has been provided by local militia forces for the Minister for ReEnchantment. It follows on from an incident at Lake Tarnița and the supply of illegal Disenchanters. Names have been changed to protect government officials. -Transcript Begins- Knocking Avram: Open the door Miss Odeta. Opening Avram: You know who we are? noise Odeta: I have a permit to be here. Avram: All settling permits are temporarily suspended. Odeta: That’s hardly my fault. Avram: You’ve been here for months. You’ve over stayed your welcome. Odeta: It’s a couple of weeks. Avram: What are you doing out here all alone? Odeta: I like the view. Avram: The Lake has been declared a special interest site. Odeta: Exactly. I find it very interesting. sound of metal and a splash of water Odeta: Leave my pots alone. Avram: What is that smell? Odeta: Stew. Avram: We heard a family of Blajini had settled in the area. Odeta: So go look at their permit. Avram: We tried. The camps abandoned. Odeta: Can’t trust them, that’s what I always say. Avram: You were happy enough to take money from them. Odeta: Who lied to you? Was it Codrin? That old goat. Avram: One of their pups was sick. Odeta: And I gave it a little tree bark. What of it? Avram: The lake, it’s trees, shit even the dirt is all government property. Odeta: So take it up with them. Avram: A lot of the Blajini have been going missing lately. Odeta: Well they’re little, easy to miss. Avram: Have you been providing anyone with anything stronger than tree bark Miss Odeta? Odeta: I don’t catch your meaning. Avram: The forests around here are popular with poachers aren’t they? Odeta: My father was a poacher, and his and his. It’s a long tradition. Avram: But that was when all they could poach were deer. Things have changed. Odeta: Not so much for me. Avram: Let us in. Odeta: No. of a scuffle Odeta: Get out of my home. Avram: Make it easy on yourself crone. Odeta: You have no right. scuffle Avram: Look for bones. She’ll have kept those. Odeta: There’s nothing here. Avram: Sit down. Odeta: Listen if you want some information on the poachers I’d be happy to- Avram: Oh Miss Odeta this isn’t good. the record show what was found: Approximately 8 to 10 small bones, around the size of a juvenile Blajini stored beneath a floorboard by the stove. Odeta: How’s they get there. Avram: Give it over crone. Odeta: Fine. of spitting Odeta: It hasn’t been easy since they showed up you know? It’s easy for you lot in the cities but around here, it’s like we’re living in hell. Avram: The Blajini have been declared non-hostile and given sentience status. Odeta: It was survival. Avram: It was murder. Odeta: My ancestors used to worship these little rats. They never had to compete with them for food, for land. And I’m telling you they bring all those other beasts with them. Avram: The Blajini are as much victims of the ReEnchantment as we are. That justifies turning them into a soup? Odeta: My own son turned into one of those creeps. He’d get angry and suddenly cups would fly across the room. When we asked the government for help they said we hadn’t any right to Disenchanters because we weren’t settled. Avram: That’s between you and the state. Odeta: Blajini bone soup dampens the effects. Avram: Take her out. Odeta: Get your hands off me. of a scuffle and distant shouting. -Transcript Ends- After notes: The drug pusher and murderer known as Miss Odeta awaits trial. The bodies of 5 more Blajini have been recovered and returned to their people for burial. The drug known as ‘Blajini Bone Soup’ has been tested and shown to have no effect on suppressing enchantments.